By Mike Bodeen · 24 August 2026
As a heads up, an economist I’m not. Honestly, I’m in way over my head on the big numbers game. But considering that no one else seems to be able to cure “America’s Silent Dollar Killer,” known as inflation, I too can throw in my four cents worth. Yes, the two cents doubled too ;-(
What I do know is that even before the Iran war, prices were rising. The price of beef and other food items has skyrocketed. For those fortunate enough to find their way to restaurants, they’re seeing the average meal increase by leaps and bounds. “Ma’am, did you change the menu again?”
And now gas prices are launching, and so is the stock market. Those folks fortunate enough to be invested in stocks have seen their wealth soar. Ah, the Roaring ’20s are here again.
But this is a real estate article, so where am I going with this?
Most of Mike’s Monday Market Snapshots over the years have dealt with the direction of home values and trends in the marketplace – how much they’re (mostly) rising, or not. In our Snapshot analytics, it seems that those positive snapshots have the highest readership.
Every once in a while, we remind ourselves and our readership about the intrinsic value of home ownership. The benefits of owning a home for the long term – all the benefits, not just financial.
Jonathan’s article last week opened our eyes to what inflation is doing to the value of our homes, especially in the past four years. Almost all homeowners in Phoenix, and in the nation, are losing ground, despite what might “appear” to be gaining.
This week’s chart (below) seems positive. Home values, except for a two-year blip in ’23 and ’24, have been rising for 15 years. In truth, when the Phoenix Consumer Price Index (CPI) is factored in over the years since 2022, the real value of homes here has dropped – across the board, and across the nation. This is not just an “Arizona malady.”
At the same time, 40 trillion dollars has been in the news recently, which will soon increase to 50 trillion dollars. Seventy five trillion dollars? Do I hear 100 trillion dollars? So what?
Per my AI friend: “A ballooning national debt diverts massive tax revenue from public services toward interest payments. It drives up interest rates for mortgages, auto loans, and business investments [CBO]. It also increases long-term inflation risks and leaves the economy highly vulnerable to future financial crises or global downturns.”
For this Snapshot, this gets back to housing unaffordability. Higher prices and higher mortgage rates increasingly force out lower income families.
Future mortgage rates? The burgeoning national debt is telling us. Nay, screaming at us. STOP! And all branches of government, on both sides of the aisle, don’t want to touch this ticking time bomb.
What can be done? Vote them out. Our fear, however, should be that there are no courageous politicians willing to step up and be accountable, not just to us, but to future generations as well. Or perhaps our fear should be that we are not courageous voters, willing to vote for those who will stop the spending madness.